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Explore every episode of the podcast Acquiring Minds

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TitlePub. DateDuration
Exited but Tired: 5 Years in a Hard Business29 Aug 202401:33:53

Register here for the webinar, Legal Office Hours: Common Legal Diligence Issues


After 5 years of owning a scale business, Matt Bauer & Chris Hartman were burning out. Fortunately they'd created value.

Topics in Matt and Chris’s interview:

  • Two military buddies bought a scale business
  • Demanding grind of the industry
  • Downside of providing a mission-critical service
  • Building a sales team to grow the business
  • Challenges in training technicians
  • Attempting to acquire a competitor
  • Doubling earnings in 5 years
  • Deciding it was time to sell
  • Their 8-figure exit
  • Investing in a port-a-potty startup

References and how to contact Matt and Chris:


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Young Couple Starts a Family Business By Buying One26 Aug 202401:20:04

Register here for the webinar, Legal Office Hours: Common Legal Diligence Issues


Topics in Meredith & Michael’s interview:

  • Buying an employment screening company
  • The seller staying on as an employee
  • Strict industry regulations serve as a moat
  • Upgrading technology after acquisition
  • How the seller eased clients through the transition
  • Why they’re not worried about AI
  • Meredith’s growth as a manager
  • Buying a business as a young couple
  • Why this may be a difficult industry to roll up
  • Personal impact of owning a business

References and how to contact Meredith & Michael:


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Reflections on 2 Years in the Knife Fight25 Jul 202401:38:35

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Brett Kennedy has doubled & strengthened the sub-$1 million moving business he bought — but it hasn't been without pain.

Topics in Brett’s interview:

  • Being raised in an entrepreneurial family
  • Buying Furniture Taxi, a moving company
  • Driving the truck himself when employees don’t show
  • Surprises the seller failed to mention
  • Good and bad of buying small
  • Daily stressors of running a small business
  • Hiring a GM
  • Doubling the business despite a shrinking market
  • Your employees are your customers
  •  The next company he wants to buy

References and how to contact Brett:

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Seller's View of a Searcher Buying His Business14 Sep 202301:28:42

Peter Wild fielded offers to buy his business for years but sold only after being introduced to the searcher community. 

Topics in Peter & Carlos’ interview:

  • The psychology of a seller
  • Recognizing the business as “searcher friendly”
  • Finding the right individual to buy the business
  • History of the organic tree health industry
  • Why this sale was a “reverse search fund”
  • Upgrading to Salesforce from a 40-year-old custom database
  • Upgrading to digital contracts from paper
  • Why he wouldn’t sell to a strategic
  • Overcoming skepticism about selling to a “searcher”
  • The owner’s life as a proxy for whether to buy a business

Listen to Part 1 of this story:

References and how to contact Peter & Carlos:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

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Buying a 45-Year-Old Industry Pioneer11 Sep 202301:23:39

After a successful military career, Don Gourley saw buying a business as the best means to "lead a unit" as a civilian. 

Topics in Don’s interview:

  • Having a “plan Z” as a searcher
  • Importance of being crystal clear about what you want to buy
  • His rigorous approach to a geographic search
  • How to recruit & manage 10+ interns
  • Cultivating brokers
  • About Boston Tree Preservation
  • Digital transformation — is it actually that valuable?
  • How to take over from a founder-visionary
  • Why buying a business is such a good fit for veterans
  • Having the seller pay for the Q of E

References and how to contact Don:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Buy a Franchise Portfolio: How to Choose a Brand07 Sep 202301:42:51

AJ Wasserstein, Peter Mistretta & Mike Horowitz distill the selection of a franchise brand into 10 essential criteria. 

Topics in today’s interview with A.J., Michael, and Peter:

  • Why you should (and should not) buy into a franchise system
  • Likelihood of becoming a billionaire, centi-millionaire, or deca-millionaire by acquiring franchise businesses
  • The importance of defining what success looks like to you
  • “Blind” evaluation of a franchise system
  • How to evaluate a brand & system
  • How to evaluate a franchisor
  • Assessing demographics of existing franchisee base
  • The importance of store-level economics
  • Can you even break into the franchise system?
  • “X factor” and unmasking a brand after your analysis

References and how to contact A.J., Michael, and Peter:

Acquiring Minds episodes referred to:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

Rocky Transition: How to Survive, Then Thrive05 Sep 202301:31:21

Collapsing sales, unhelpful sellers, and a GM who quit. But 1 year later, Chris Jones is contemplating acquisition #2. 

Topics in Chris’s interview:

  • Buying a foundation repair business
  • Finding discrepancies in QuickBooks 
  • His chaotic transition to CEO
  • The GM leaving to start a competing company
  • A dispute over money the seller owed
  • Burning through cash the first winter
  • Restructuring roles in the business
  • Improvements in sales numbers
  • Possibly acquiring a second business
  • Optimism about the future of the company

References and how to contact Chris:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

First-Time Buyer Recipe for Success: Action & Small Steps31 Aug 202301:10:13

Connor Pera shares how taking incremental steps led to buying his first business much sooner than expected. 

Topics in Connor’s interview:

  • Trade-offs of a part-time search
  • Importance of taking action
  • Competition in the web-to-print industry
  • Pros and cons of an SBA loan
  • The appeal of managing people
  • His mistake of not accounting for working capital adjustments
  • Feeling anxious before closing
  • Transitioning to ownership and fatherhood at the same time
  • The importance of knowing oneself
  • The value of his business school education

References and how to contact Connor:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

Unlocking Growth in a 40-Year-Old Business28 Aug 202301:25:50

Josh Medow brought a mindset to his search that he would reshape whatever business he bought into a high-growth company. 

Topics in Josh’s interview:

  • Calling over 1,000 business owners during search
  • Buying a business with no money down
  • How EOS transformed his business
  • His 10-20 year outlook
  • Comparing his military experience with business leadership
  • Laser focusing on one target market
  • Building their own SaaS tool for their customers
  • His most transformational leadership hire
  • What matters to him more than money
  • His plan to IPO

References and how to contact Josh:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

From Startup Founder to Buying a Small Business24 Aug 202301:22:42

Tim Ericson brings lessons from 13 years as a startup founder to the $4m printer rental company he recently bought.

Topics in Tim’s interview:

  • His experience in a VC-backed startup
  • Searching for a remote-friendly business
  • Using his sales skills to find a business
  • Buying Short-Term Copier 
  • The types of customers they serve
  • Comfort running a remotely-managed, multi-city business
  • His vision to double the business 
  • Installing an operations manager
  • Boring is the new sexy
  • Investing in other searchers’ deals

References and how to contact Tim:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 


Buying a Small Business to Build for Decades21 Aug 202301:14:40

August Felker did a search fund, then later a self-funded search so he could own & build his business for years to come.

Topics in August’s interview:

  • Buying a business without an MBA
  • How cold calling led to his first deal
  • Buying an “elevator asset business”
  • Early lessons in leadership
  • What he loved about traditional search
  • The resiliency of the insurance industry
  • The normalcy of 3-year earnouts 
  • Self-funding his second deal
  • His vision for building a brand
  • The niche of working with searchers

References and how to contact August:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

Holdco Entrepreneurs: A Peek Behind the Curtain17 Aug 202300:41:25

HoldCoConf co-founder Kelcey Lehrich shares key findings from a survey of 100+ holdco operators about their businesses. 

Topics in Kelcey’s interview:

  • How HoldCoConf started
  • Why holdcos are so popular
  • Arguments against holdcos
  • The “everything tastes like chicken” layer of business
  • Surprising survey results
  • What becomes possible at $50M in revenue
  • Hiring leadership in holdcos
  • Debating centralized vs decentralized models
  • Use of global hiring
  • Concerns about a recession

References and how to contact Kelcey:

12 previous Acquiring Minds interviews with holdco entrepreneurs:

  1. From Determined Searcher to $75m Accidental Holdco
  2. One Year Later: Holdco Grows to $75m in Total Revenue
  3. Building an HVAC Holdco to £60m in Revenue
  4. Fetal Position to Foundry Holdco ($30m & Counting)
  5. Snowball Effect: Getting to $45m in 3 Years
  6. Birth of a Holdco (with 15 Acquisitions to Date)
  7. How to Build a Holdco (4 Acquisitions So Far)
  8. 7 Years Later: Leaving Wall Street to Buy Small Businesses
  9. 5x in 5 Years: Buying Small to Grow Quickly
  10. How One Tiny Acquisition Grew Into a Holdco
  11. Growing a Small 1st Acquisition into a Holdco Platform
  12. How to Build a Holdco Around Company Culture

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

A Non-Financial Reason to Buy a Business14 Aug 202301:18:00

Nick Akers had a vision for supportive, employee-first leadership. Buying a business enables him to realize this vision.

Topics in Nick’s interview:

  • His background as an inventor
  • How the TV show Succession mirrors real life
  • Why he chose Swiss search accelerator Novastone
  • What motivates him more than money
  • His focus on building a positive company culture
  • The MSP industry and its appeal for searchers
  • His plan for bolt-ons in the MSP industry
  • The importance of cash flow and working capital
  • His first 2 months as CEO
  • Why he likes having investors

References and how to contact Nick:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:


Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:


Connect with Acquiring Minds:

The Scrappy Path of a One-Man Holdco22 Jul 202401:43:59

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When Dustin Carreon reached a ceiling in his first small business, he used the profits to start buying other businesses.

Topics in Dustin’s interview:

  • Growing up in his parents’ scrapping business
  • Inheriting and growing Freelance Electronics
  • Learning the most from a difficult acquisition
  • Timing and luck matters
  • Key person risk in small-staff businesses
  • His mistake of expanding before establishing expectations
  • Cross-training employees as part of his holdco vision
  • An investor attitude compared with an entrepreneur attitude
  • Building a holdco without a college education
  • Challenge of writing down processes

References and how to contact Dustin:

Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Postmortem of a Broken Deal10 Aug 202300:54:22

Nick Wheeler reflects on investing countless hours to buy a beautiful business, only to have the seller kill the deal.

Topics in Nick’s interview:

  • Finding a commercial landscaping business
  • Winning the sellers’ trust
  • How he interpreted early red flags 
  • Lessons learned about due diligence
  • Conflict with sellers over working capital
  • Why the deal fell apart
  • The financial cost of the broken deal 
  • The emotional cost of the broken deal
  • How brokers can help (or hurt) your deal
  • What Nick is most grateful for

References and how to contact Nick:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

The Joys & Pain of Owning a $10m City Bus Business07 Aug 202301:20:37

George Goates bought a small shuttle business that he's grown 4x in 8 years, partly by running buses for municipalities. 

Topics in George’s interview:

  • Buying a transport/bussing company
  • Pivoting into operating city buses
  • Importance of relationships in securing contracts
  • Impact of Covid
  • Government corruption in urban transit
  • Promotion opportunities for his employees 
  • Nasty cost of doing business in bussing: frivolous lawsuits
  • Potential for inorganic growth through acquisitions
  • Different niches within transport
  • Relevance of a finance background in his business

References and how to contact George:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

How (and Why) to Buy a B2B Services Business03 Aug 202301:09:27

Sajama Mitta wanted to make strategic decisions at the head of an organization. Buying her own business was the answer. 

Topics in Sajama’s interview:

  • Using her investing background to evaluate businesses
  • Buying an environmental health and safety consulting company
  • How the founders made themselves replaceable 
  • How they keep their clients in compliance with regulations
  • The fragmented nature of the industry and opportunities for growth
  • How California compares to other states on regulations
  • The problems she enjoys solving
  • The importance of team empowerment and employee satisfaction
  • Shifting the quality of revenue and focusing on recurring projects
  • The technical knowledge she has gained since buying CDMS

References and how to contact Sajama:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

16 Months to Exit: Cleaning Up in Street Sweeping31 Jul 202301:39:54

Manny Saxena quickly bought 3 street-sweeping businesses to become the largest player in NorCal. A big PE fund noticed. 

Topics in Manny’s interview:

  • The importance of maintaining a strong pipeline during search
  • Why he chose a street-sweeping business during COVID
  • The transition into running a blue-collar business and motivating the team
  • Why he recommends in-person conversations with sellers
  • Advice for other immigrants in business
  • The importance of attitude and soft skills in hiring
  • Managing long-term contracts in an inflationary environment
  • The decision to sell the business to a private equity firm
  • The pros and cons of having a union presence
  • His ongoing roll-up strategy in the solar industry

References and how to contact Manny:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Why Buy a Digital Service Business27 Jul 202301:31:40

Karl Hughes recently bought a podcast production agency & explains why "productized service" businesses are attractive. 

Topics in Karl’s interview:

  • Starting a super-niche content marketing business
  • The benefits of productizing a service
  • Saying no to the wrong revenue
  • What he learned about using cold outreach to find sellers
  • Acquiring a podcast production company with his partner
  • What he likes about digital businesses
  • His vision to build a holdco
  • The small changes he made immediately
  • Why buying small was the right move for him
  • Cashflow management in digital businesses

References and how to contact Karl:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Building an ATM Empire24 Jul 202301:17:03

Mitchell Sorkin started by buying 3 ATMs in 2021. Today he has over 140 machines and is targeting $5m EBITDA in 3 years. 

Topics in Mitchell’s interview:

  • The difference between arbitrage and building a business
  • Mitchell's journey to acquiring 140 ATM machines
  • How to evaluate an ATM route
  • Revenue and margins in the ATM business
  • Challenges with SBA financing
  • His most controversial Twitter thread
  • Future plans to raise a fund
  • 3 ways to profit in the ATM business
  • Dealing with theft
  • How people underestimate ATMs

References and how to contact Mitchell:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

The Life-Changing Potential of Buying a Business20 Jul 202301:16:32

Chris Munn, Bakari Akil, and Bruce Vann reflect on being Black men who bought businesses & why this path is so powerful. 

Topics in this interview:

  • What inspires and motivates them as business owners
  • The three necessary factors for capitalism to work
  • Unclaimed opportunities for minority businesses
  • The impact of entrepreneurship on family and future generations
  • Changing your mentality to lead a company effectively
  • Being “buttoned up” vs. being authentic
  • Dealing with sellers who want to talk U.S. politics
  • Overcoming challenges and persisting in the face of adversity
  • The limitations of “climbing the ladder” in a W2
  • Why now is the best time for Black people to buy businesses

References and how to contact:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

How One Tiny Acquisition Grew Into a Holdco17 Jul 202301:25:18

Matt Huggins bought a small water & cable utility doing $200k/year. 15 years later, his holdco is on track for $20m/yr. 

Topics in this interview:

  • Matt's decision to step off the academic track
  • Matt's career as a professional online poker player
  • Transitioning from poker to small business
  • Acquiring a utilities company for a group of condos
  • The surprising complexity of running a utilities company
  • Starting a manhole lining business 
  • The stability and diversity of the water industry
  • Acquiring businesses from retiring owners without needing capital
  • The value of a fractional CFO
  • The reward of helping employees

References and how to contact Matt:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

5x in 5 Years: Buying Small to Grow Quickly10 Jul 202301:28:38

Holdco entrepreneur Chase Murdock buys very small businesses with potential for rapid growth & decades of staying power. 

Topics in Chase’s interview:

  • Starting a custom suit company with $750
  • Decata Group's “car wash integration process” for acquisitions
  • Workshop SLC’s 5x growth in the first year of acquisition
  • Getting out of the “small business death zone” ASAP
  • The knife fight of acquiring and growing small businesses 
  • The #1 ingredient in company building
  • Maslow’s hierarchy of business needs
  • What surprised him about the trades industry
  • Conviction in the ability to 5x a business in 5 years
  • The intellectual challenge of building a holdco

Links and how to contact Chase:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Snowball Effect: Getting to $45m in 3 Years06 Jul 202301:32:36

Amir Haboosheh was drawn to the double-opportunity in acquiring home services businesses: the financial, and the impact. 

Topics in Amir’s interview:

  • Why Amir wasn’t interested in a digital business
  • Offering blue collar employees shares in the company
  • Snowball’s plan for going public
  • Snowball’s playbook for operating businesses
  • How to hire a good GM for your business
  • How to incentivize operators
  • Acquiring a marketing company
  • Why SDE isn’t everything
  • How Anderson Air doubled revenue in 3 years
  • Retaining the brands post-acquisition

Links and how to contact Amir:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Getting Reps: Helping Others Look at Deals Led to a Holdco18 Jul 202401:27:33

Register for the webinars:


How Adam Markley evaluated thousands of businesses for sale and bought a handful of his own (6 in his portfolio today).

Topics in Adam’s interview:

  • Using online courses to teach business acquisition
  • SBA loans vs. seller notes
  • Raising your potential with partnerships
  • His holdco of 6 diverse companies
  • How acquisitions in the UK and US differ
  • Power of personalized outreach
  • 2 main tracks to business acquisition
  • An operating partner who emptied the bank accounts
  • Working in a medical staffing agency before buying it
  • Looking at both on and off-market businesses

References and how to contact Adam:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Don't Overlook HR Diligence: 3 Items to Check03 Jul 202300:40:47

Mark Sinatra returns to explain what to diligence from an HR perspective when buying your business. 

Topics in Mark’s interview:

  • Top 3 things to diligence in your acquisition when it comes to HR
  • How industry associations can be a source of deal flow (once you're already acquired)
  • "Book of business" acquisitions
  • Best type to execute add-on acquisitions
  • How to prioritize what to integrate in an add-on acquisition
  • How to recover from losing a big customer
  • Value of personality profiling tools in hiring

Links and how to contact Mark:

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

How to Shorten Your Search: Big 3, Little 229 Jun 202300:54:20

Sam Rosati shares a framework to clarify your search criteria & reduce the months it takes to find a business to buy. 

Topics in Sam’s interview:

  • The reason search takes so long 
  • How to speed up your search process
  • Underwriting criteria of SBA lenders
  • Knowing how to kill a deal
  • Considering the fit of the searcher as CEO
  • Understanding SBA loan framework
  • Importance of recurring or repeating revenue
  • Opportunities and risks in buying small
  • Managing criteria to get enough deals in the pipeline
  • Common mistakes searchers make

Links and how to contact Sam:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

The Secret to $25m Success26 Jun 202301:41:47

James Bloom has 8x'd a small mechanical contractor he bought only 4 years ago, despite it being a competitive industry. 

Topics in James’s interview:

  • How his background in M&A informed his due diligence process
  • How he ensured a smooth transition
  • Commercial HVAC vs. residential HVAC
  • Why he funded growth out of his own pocket
  • Reducing his weekly work hours from 100 to 60
  • How his business differentiates itself in the construction industry
  • Growing his staff from 8 to 80
  • Growing revenue from $3M to $25M
  • Working with unions
  • Bringing in outside capital to grow

Links and how to contact James:

Buy your ticket to the ETA conference devoted to self-funded search:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

What Buying Small Is Like When Crises Happen22 Jun 202301:18:06

3 days into Monte Marcum's acquisition of an established franchise, key equipment breaks. Then the crises kept coming. 

Topics in Monte’s interview:

  • Buying 2 existing & adjacent franchise businesses at once
  • How Filta’s customer pricing is structured
  • Why commercial kitchens love his business
  • Combining two businesses
  • Equipment starts breaking on day three
  • Monte’s series of fetal position moments
  • What exactly is hard about running a business
  • How one rockstar employee guided him through a season of crisis
  • The biggest risk of buying small
  • The importance of a support system

Links and how to contact Monte:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Self-Funded Search vs. Independent Sponsorship20 Jun 202301:42:59

Niklas James started off as a self-funded searcher, but evolved into being an independent sponsor of 7 acquisitions. 

Topics in Niklas’s interview:

  • Why he returned the funds raised for his traditional search fund
  • How the painful challenges of his first acquisition set him up for success on later deals
  • Why SaaS isn’t as sexy as it seems
  • Evolution from self-funded searcher to independent sponsor
  • Definition of an independent sponsor
  • Why HVAC is so attractive
  • Growing his home services business
  • What type of person should consider independent sponsorship
  • The difference between searchers and independent sponsors
  • The difference between a holdco and independent sponsorship

Links and how to contact Niklas:

Buy your ticket to the ETA conference devoted to self-funded search:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

The Bumpy Reality of Buying an Ecommerce Business15 Jun 202300:53:05

Martin Bispels updates us on the DTC ecommerce business he bought in 2020 and had grown to almost $2m/yr one year later. 

Topics in Martin’s interview:

  • Using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
  • Building and managing a great remote team
  • Why he doesn’t sell on Amazon
  • The difference between buying and shopping
  • Opportunities for bolt-on products
  • Marks of a good ecommerce business
  • The power of story to differentiate your product
  • Moving his supplier from China to Vietnam
  • Finding a good 3PL
  • Keeping the founder in the business

Links and how to contact Martin:

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

Owner vs CEO: 2 Approaches to Buying a Business12 Jun 202301:25:15

Derek Turner has done both a traditional search fund and self-funded. We hear both stories & explore the differences. 

Topics in Derek’s interview:

  • The advantages of a geographically-focused search
  • His method for pitching business owners doing cold outreach
  • Challenges within the laser van business
  • Being a good soldier vs being a sucker
  • The downside of growth
  • The perils of buying from unpleasant owners
  • How the company grew with no marketing
  • Hiring a GM to run the business
  • Why have a board with a self-funded acquisition
  • Why self-funded search feels different than traditional search funds

Links and how to contact Derek:

With SIG, you can buy your own business and retain majority ownership:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

One Acquiring Minds Guest Buys Another08 Jun 202301:03:30

2 previous guests, Mike Botkin & Adrian Pinto, are joining forces to grow a landscaping empire throughout the Southeast. 

Topics in Adrian and Mike’s interview:

  • Adrian and Mike meeting through Acquiring Minds
  • Why it was difficult for Adrian to get a line of credit for his business
  • Mike’s holding company acquired Adrian’s landscaping company
  • The pros and cons of buying assets vs. stock
  • How an SBA loan can hamper growth in some situations
  • Why Mike says acquisition is a talent game
  • How they structured their acquisition
  • Adrian’s role as CEO post-acquisition
  • How rolling equity can benefit the seller
  • Mike’s holdco origin story

Links and how to contact Adrian and Mike:

With SIG, you can buy your own business and retain majority ownership:

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Raising $800k to Buy an $8m Business as a First-Timer05 Jun 202301:24:38

With no finance background, Kevin Bibelhausen learned to raise money from investors & buy a 20-year-old fabric business. 

Topics in Kevin’s interview:

  • His health crisis that led to a career change
  • Losing funding at the last minute
  • Raising $800k in 5 weeks
  • Automating his money-raise process with investors
  • The value of being active on Twitter
  • Acquiring a $8m business using very little of his own money
  • The ideal number of investors
  • What attracted Kevin to Heritage Fabrics
  • Managing working capital with a long sales cycle
  • His investment fund, Fruition Capital

Links and how to contact Kevin:

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It Worked: Buying an Ecom Business to Gain Freedom01 Jun 202300:36:01

Alex Michael was seeking to acquire not just a business, but freedom. One year later, he reports back on how it's going. 

Topics in Alex’s interview:

  • Top line growth in the last year
  • How he diligenced Wallaroo Wallets
  • How he uses Amazon PPC ads
  • The limitations of an Amazon FBA business
  • An expensive lesson about traffic diversification
  • Launching new products
  • Having his family involved in his business
  • Living life on his own terms
  • His unconventional thoughts on productivity
  • The topics he writes on

Links and how to contact Alex:

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Building a $10m EBITDA Leader in a Fragmented Space15 Jul 202401:24:54

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Nick Haschka & Dillan Ferguson are 5 months and 2 acquisitions into a roll-up targeting $50-60m revenue in 5 years.

Topics in Nick and Dillan interview:

  • How Nick and Dillan met on Twitter
  • The future of reliance on generators
  • Serving both residential and commercial customers
  • Separating the business into service and installation teams
  • Doubling the number of employees
  • Atmospheric river caused a crisis 3 weeks after acquisition
  • Being a leader is different than being an employer
  • Developing their own software
  • Where they find their technicians
  • Comparing the risk of an asset purchase and a stock purchase

References and how to contact Nick and Dillan:

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Buy Big: How to Acquire a $3m EBITDA Roofing Business30 May 202300:48:35

How Austin Smoak raised money from investors to buy a very profitable roofing business that he found on BizBuySell. 

Topics in Austin's interview:

  • How Goldman Sachs prepared him for business ownership
  • Passively owning franchises
  • Why he recommends local brokers over proprietary search
  • Finding “business-buyer fit”
  • His plan to scale via roll-up
  • His philosophy on change management
  • Pros and cons of being funded by a family office
  • The scope of his residential roofing business
  • The roofing industry in Florida
  • How he uses digital marketing

Links and how to contact Austin:

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Home Care Business: How to Buy & 2x an Agency25 May 202301:08:10

Jérôme Bouillon bought a home care agency doing $500k/yr in 2018. Today it exceeds $1m and he's added a second location. 

Topics in Jerome’s interview:

  • His cold calling strategy
  • Buying a Visiting Angels franchise
  • Seeing his employees as his customers
  • The changes he made immediately to employee benefits
  • Why he stopped penny-pinching in the business
  • Why it’s important to know how to work in the business
  • Margins in home care
  • Home care vs. home healthcare
  • How to scale up in this industry
  • The benefits of a franchise

Links and how to contact Jérôme:

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Overworked & Underpaid: Buying a Business to Escape22 May 202301:29:07

Heather Shattuck-Heidorn was a tenure-tracked professor, but wanted out. Buying a business offered freedom & security. 

Topics in Heather’s interview:

  1. What she loved about academia
  2. Why she initially resisted franchises
  3. How she found a custom closet franchise
  4. Being her husband’s employer
  5. Her thoughts on capitalism
  6. How small business ownership differs from academia
  7. What she likes about owning a franchise
  8. How she grows her business organically
  9. Learning to communicate with her employees
  10. Her fetal position moment

Links and how to contact Heather:

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Learning to Lead: From Searcher to Boss of 14018 May 202300:54:10

Having only ever managed a few people when he bought his business, Alex Glasner shares how the trial by fire is going. 

Topics in Alex's interview:

  • The difference between searching and operating
  • The challenge of improving processes
  • How rapid growth affected the company
  • Running the business with a partner
  • How the economy impacts his industry
  • Having the British government as his sole customer
  • Idealism and disillusionment in helping professions
  • Why he hasn’t acquired a second business
  • Why the first 2 years are hard
  • How he has improved as a manager

Links and how to contact Alex:

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Uber Driver to 7-Figure Exit in 3 Years15 May 202301:24:01

Ben Bortner couch-surfed, drove Uber, and racked up credit card debt while finding a pool business to buy. It went well. 

Topics in Ben’s interview:

  • Buying a pool service business, putting in only $100 of his own money for equity
  • Changes he made to employee compensation (and why)
  • Acquiring a second pool business
  • Why Ben became certified to do pool maintenance himself
  • How Ben improved company culture
  • Why he didn’t want to hire a GM
  • Selling his company to Pool Troopers
  • Launching a fund for self-funded searchers
  • The type of searcher he wants to fund
  • What a self-funded deal looks like

Links and how to contact Ben:

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Surviving the Nightmare: Sales Plunge 95%11 May 202301:12:33

9 months after Jesse Safir bought a printing biz, Covid cratered it. 3 years later, sales are nearing pre-Covid levels. 

Topics in Jesse’s interview:

  • Finding ABG Printing by sending direct mail
  • The value of having a “forgettable” business
  • Renegotiating his deal before acquisition
  • The changes he made in the first 9 months
  • Cutting 80% of his staff during COVID
  • Managing cash flow after revenue plunged 95%
  • Staffing post-COVID
  • How their printing projects have diversified
  • The landscape of the printing industry
  • Jesse’s vision for a holdco

Links and how to contact Jesse:

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How to Raise Money from Investors to Buy a Business08 May 202300:48:32

2 searchers, Kaustubh Deo & Kevin Bibelhausen, share how they found investors to provide money to buy their businesses. 

Topics in Kevin and Kaustubh’s interview:

  • How Twitter helps searchers learn and network
  • How Kevin found investors after his funding fell through
  • How they selected investors
  • What a good pitch meeting looks like
  • How they communicate with investors post-acquisition
  • The power of superconnectors when raising funds
  • The size of their cap tables
  • How they organized their contacts while pitching investors
  • How to get the most equity in your business
  • The most gratifying and stressful parts of running their businesses

Links and how to contact Kevin and Kaustubh:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

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How to Buy a $5m Business & Hire an Operator to Run It01 May 202301:32:59

It CAN be done: Matthew Saskin recently acquired a big towing business, hiring an operator to run it from day 1. 

Topics in Matthew Saskin’s interview:

  • Why he chose a towing company
  • Putting in an operator from day one
  • Improvements he made right away
  • Why he kept his day job (and how he manages it)
  • His COO’s compensation package
  • What is phantom equity (and how it’s different from true equity)
  • How real estate investment is different from SMB ownership
  • The landscape of the towing industry
  • Revenue streams for towing companies
  • How they recruit drivers

Links and how to contact Matthew:

  • Matt's business plan. We decided not to link to it directly. Email Matt to request a copy, and he'll share it with you directly 👇👇
  • msaskin@eastcoasttowing.com
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • East Coast Towing

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

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The Opportunity in Carve-Outs (and Uncle Sam)27 Apr 202301:09:55

Caroline Chapdelaine seized opportunity when a biomed company needed to sell a $2m unit that made special defense tech. 

Topics in Caroline’s interview:

  • About the defense contracting industry
  • Buying a business in the defense industry (and why it’s hard)
  • Buying a carve-out business
  • The unusual terms of a carve-out deal
  • Unforeseen costs after purchasing a carve-out
  • The benefits of having partners
  • Assessing the strategic value of your business to its customers
  • Running out of money months after purchase
  • Getting an SBA loan against her business assets
  • Remotely running a California business from Utah

Links and how to contact Caroline:

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Fetal Position to Foundry Holdco ($30m & Counting)24 Apr 202301:44:27

Despite dire warnings against it, Reg Zeller bought a foundry. He's since bought 6 more & sees a clear path to $100m/yr. 

Topics in Reg Zeller’s interview:

  • Why he bought a foundry (against everyone’s advice)
  • The famous fetal position story
  • The importance of a peer group
  • His journey from one acquisition to a holdco
  • Why searchers should spend 2 years operating the business they buy
  • Reg’s plan to get to $100 million
  • How to eliminate key man risk
  • How Reg found his rockstar COO
  • Opportunities in non-manufacturing spaces
  • The opportunities in onshoring

Links and how to contact Reg:

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Buying & Growing a Business While Keeping a Day Job11 Jul 202401:54:32

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How Dominick Blue bought an air duct cleaning business and took it into HVAC services, all while retaining his W-2.

Topics in Dominick’s interview:

  • Keeping his W-2 while acquiring companies
  • Mistakes he made during diligence
  • Revamping service offerings
  • Looking for “diamond in the rough” leaders
  • Expanding from air duct cleaning into HVAC
  • His fetal position moment
  • Being ghosted by his bank
  • Buying a business while expecting a baby
  • Advantage of selling directly to consumers
  • Drawing from his training in the U.S. Marines

References and how to contact Dominick:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

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How to 2x Sales in a Service Business You Buy20 Apr 202301:07:19

Adrian Pinto returns to reflect on his 1.5 years as owner of a landscaping business that he's grown from $3m to $6m/yr. 

Topics in Adrian’s interview:

  • Buying and growing Georgia Scapes
  • Growth through acquisition in landscaping 
  • Doubling revenue in 18 months
  • His B2B sales process
  • Competition in landscaping
  • Commercial vs residential landscaping
  • Maintenance work vs project work
  • Due diligence for a landscaping company
  • Beyond EBITDA: evaluating size of business to buy
  • Risks in acquiring a landscaping business

Links and how to contact Adrian:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

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How to Build a Portfolio of 20 Franchise Locations17 Apr 202301:33:39

Michael Horowitz was looking to buy an independent business when a different path opened up. Today he owns 20 Wingstops. 

Topics in Michael’s interview:

  • Pros and cons of searching within franchises
  • Why Michael was attracted to QSR’s (quick service restaurants)
  • Buying 7 Wingstop locations in Ohio
  • Writing an operating agreement for 3 co-owners
  • Development agreements with franchises
  • Operating QSR’s during Covid
  • Opening and closing a ghost kitchen
  • Daily operations of owning 20 Wingstop locations
  • Motivating hourly restaurant employees 
  • Michael’s advice for searchers considering QSR’s

Links and how to contact Michael:

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Life as an Operator: Leaving PE to Buy a $2m Tree Business13 Apr 202301:18:47

Kaustubh Deo reflects on his first year as the owner of a tree business versus his former life in NYC private equity. 

Topics in Kaustubh’s interview:

  • Buying a tree service business
  • Buyer’s vs seller’s discretionary earnings
  • Reflecting on 13 months as a business owner
  • Possibility for roll-ups
  • Being an outsider in the tree industry
  • Change management
  • His thoughts on holdcos
  • Measuring success for his business
  • Life as a business owner vs. life in private equity
  • His advice for searchers

Links and how to contact Kaustubh:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

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